MRI update: the effect of dentist attire on patient perceptions of skill, caring and professionalism.

We are trained from our earliest years to draw significance from colour and dress. Thus, whilst Cinderella shyly appears in a sparkling white gown, the wicked stepmother flaunts in purple and black; in the same way we come to expect doctors to wear a white coat. But does what doctors and dentists wear really affect patient perceptions of the professionalism of the service and quality of care received? The results of a recent study by Martin Fallowfield, a GDP in Peterborough, will soon uncover the facts. Dentists can then know whether what they wear affects their patients' perceptions of the service they provide.